For the Toronto Blue Jays and fans alike, yesterday was a time to honour the accomplishments of perhaps the best starting pitcher this franchise has ever seen. None other than number 37, Dave Stieb.

On paper it was billed as Dave Stieb Bobblehead day, but it was surprisingly much more than that. Basically, it was a full-out tribute to the 20th Anniversary of Stieb’s no-hitter on September 2nd 1990, and I was surprised it wasn’t advertised as such.

Either way, it was great to see a mini-reunion of sorts with Jesse Barfield, Duane Ward, Tony Fernandez and Pat Hentgen all in attendance to pay tribute to Dave Stieb.

In my mind, the best part of the entire ceremony was when Shaun Marcum, Ricky Romero, Brandon Morrow and Brett Cecil presented Dave Stieb with the portrait made by Vernon Wells Sr.

It signified a passing of the torch from one era of starting pitchers to another. And aside from one man named Harry Leroy Halladay, I truly believe the next Dave Stieb is in that core four of starting pitchers … but I’m not sure which one it is just yet.

Aside from the game itself, here’s the only complaint I have: the inaccuracy of the Dave Stieb bobblehead. If you look carefully, he’s wearing a home white-paneled cap and a road grey jersey.

Overall, it was a great day to pay tribute to Dave Stieb and it’s hard to believe it’s already been 20 years since his no-hitter happened. Let’s hope it doesn’t take another 20 years for the next Blue Jays no-hitter to come along.

Ian Hunter

Ian has been writing about the Toronto Blue Jays since 2007. He enjoyed the tail-end of the Roy Halladay era and vividly remembers the Alex Rodriguez "mine" incident. He'll also retell the story of Game 5 of the ALDS to his son for the next 20 years.

13 Comments

I posted a little something about the inaccuracy of the bobblehead and the pretty lame attempt by the Jays to make it appear accurate via box photoshopping here: http://sportslogos.net/davestieb2010.php

Chris, and the plot thickens! I didn't even notice they used that jersey on the box as well. Originally I suspected maybe they had planned to use a different pitcher in the first place, but then put Stieb's head on top.

But like you said, the Blue Jays never wore a road grey jersey that said "Blue Jays" on it, so I have no idea why that happened.

I always wonder how mistakes like that happen. Was the guy who painted it working from memory? Has he never seen a Jays game? I don't see much of the Jays, but my first guess would still be to put Toronto on an away jersey…like every other team in history. Even if you knew nothing about baseball, wouldn't you think you'd find a nice picture of Stieb somewhere, and copy that?

Mattt, I'm not sure of the exact count but I think it's somewhere around 6-8 so far.

Section 36, I think most people probably wouldn't even notice it though. I'm not sure how something like that happens – maybe somebody picked up the wrong photo, and by the time the bobbleheads went into production, it was too late. Who knows?

It was a great ceremony. A rarity for me, but for once I wish I was actually sitting closer than the 500's to get a closer glimpse of Tony Fernandez. Anybody else think that Pat Hentgen looked younger than many MLB players today? Get that man a uniform.

jabalong

"I'm someone who truly believes in order to know where you're going, you have to know where you've been."

I agree and in this regard the screw-up of the uniform and cap on the Dave Stieb bobblehead is pretty sad as it shows a lack of knowledge among the Jays marketing team of team history. I mean c'mon, how hard is it to get the uniform right?